This invention relates to short wavelength laser light sources as well as to a laser excitation means for production of a traveling wave transverse electron beam.
Heretofore a traveling wave discharge system has been set forth in an article by John D. Shipman, Jr. in Applied Physics Letters, 10, Vol. 1, Jan. 1967, pp 3-4. The teaching of this traveling wave system has been used by others to produce a traveling wave excited gas laser. Such a system has been set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,689 as well as in several published articles. Such as, "A Fast-Rise-Time Excitation System for Production of Vacuum Ultraviolet Laser Emission", by R. W. Waynant and J. D. Shipman, Jr., IEEE J. Quantum Electronics, Vol. QE7, No. 6, June 1971, p 282; and "Vacuum Ultraviolet Laser Emission from CIV", by R. W. Waynant, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 22, No. 8, 15 April 1973, pp 419-420. Additional published articles are listed as references in the latter article. The above references set forth the development of the traveling wave vacuum laser. Principles set forth in the above prior art have been extended to production of wavelengths of light from 1161 to 1240 Angstroms as set forth in "Vacuum-UV Laser Action in H.sub.2 Werner Bands : 1161-1240 A", by R. T. Hodson and R. W. Dreyfus, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 28, No. 9, pp 536-539, 28 Feb. 1972. The device set forth in the later article has its disadvantages which are over come by the present invention.